VANCOUVER — More than two years after hooligans poured through the streets of downtown Vancouver, torching cars, looting stores and beating anyone standing in their way, police are recommending another raft of charges.

Sgt. Randy Fincham says the VPD is preparing to hand its twelfth round of charge recommendations to Crown, in the wake of the June 15, 2011 violence that followed Vancouver’s loss in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup final.

As of April 19, when the last raft of charge recommendations were submitted to Crown, police had proposed nearly 2,000 charges against 325 people, and expected to recommend about 25 more charges against as many alleged rioters.

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One hundred and two admitted or convicted rioters have received sentences ranging from discharges to more than a year in jail.

A police release also says 25 have been charged with breaching conditions imposed either while awaiting trial or after sentence.

In addition, officers are still working to identify at least three of what they have dubbed the top ten suspects shown on video taking part in the mayhem.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/23/they-can-run-and-smash-things-but-they-cant-hide-more-stanley-riot-charges-on-the-way/feed/1stdRioters break the front doors of a Sears department store on Granville Street during the riot following game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup final in downtown Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. The first trial involving the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver has heard a 26-year-old man doesn't remember smashing windows during the melee.First Vancouver rioter at trial convicted, told he was sober enough to know betterhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/04/vancouver-stanley-cup-rioter-found-guilty-despite-claim-he-was-too-drunk-to-remember-smashing-window/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/04/vancouver-stanley-cup-rioter-found-guilty-despite-claim-he-was-too-drunk-to-remember-smashing-window/#commentsFri, 05 Apr 2013 03:55:34 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=288360

The first person to go on trial in the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver has been found guilty on three charges.

Spencer Kirkwood had pleaded not guilty to participating in a riot, mischief and breaking a court order, saying he was too drunk to remember smashing a window with a street barricade — an action that was caught on video.

But Provincial Court Judge Conni Bagnall says Kirkwood’s intentions were clear and he wasn’t too drunk to understand he was doing something wrong.

She convicted him of the two riot-related charges, as well as one count of breaching a court order to stay away from alcohol.

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Crown prosecutor Patti Tomasson during the trial asked the judge to find Kirkwood guilty of smashing the window. “The crowd is cheering it, Mr. Kirkwood has his hands up in the air. He’s encouraging the cheering, smiling and enjoying the attention,” she said at the time.

Kirkwood was sporting a green T-shirt with a white hockey stick logo and jeans when he helped break windows at a Telus store, at a cost of $10,337 to replace, Tomasson had said, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

Two days later, Kirkwood phoned 911 after receiving a threatening phone call from an anonymous man who had apparently spotted him in video that had been posted online.

“He was scared,” Tomasson said.

The next day Kirkwood went to police to give a statement.

Kirkwood was charged in late November 2011 with participating in a riot and mischief.

Kirkwood will be sentenced later.

More than 100 people have already pleaded guilty without trial and been sentenced for their part in the riot after the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins in June of 2011.

Jason Payne/Postmedia NewsThousands of people rocked the city’s downtown after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 in 2011.

A former beauty queen whose crowning as Miss Congeniality made her one of the highest-profile suspects in Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot has pleaded guilty, and her lawyer has suggested the woman’s international notoriety has gone far beyond what her case deserves.

Sophie Laboissonniere, who was 20 at the time of the June 2011 riot, was not in court Monday, when her lawyer entered the plea on her behalf.

The Richmond, B.C., resident was among the first batch of suspects charged after the riot. Media reports quickly identified her as the winner of Miss Congeniality at a local beauty pageant, sending her name and photo across the country and farther afield.

She was charged with one count of participating in a riot and one count of breaking and entering. She pleaded guilty to the riot charge, while the break-and-enter charge will be stayed by the Crown once she is sentenced, said her lawyer, David Baker.

The court has yet to hear what exactly Laboissonniere did as rioters torched cars, smashed windows and looted stores around her. Those details will come out at a sentencing hearing later this year, which she must attend, Baker said.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be commenting on the facts now, but I can say this: compared to the vast majority of people charged here, her participation in this riot was at the very low end of the scale,” Baker told reporters outside provincial court.

Jason Payne / PNG / FilesHockey fans riot after game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins in Vancouver, B.C. June 15, 2011. Authorities predict they will have laid more than 700 charges against upwards of 225 people by the time they are finished with the case.

“She has received a level of notoriety that goes way beyond the offence she committed. She’s stuck with that for a long time.”

When asked why Laboissonniere did not appear at the hearing, Baker said, “To avoid this,” as he faced a throng of reporters and television cameras

During Monday’s brief court appearance, the Crown asked for a pre-sentence report with a “psychological component.” Neither the Crown nor Baker elaborated on the reason for such a report.

The riot started in the dying minutes of Game 7 on June 15, 2011, as the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins.

The trouble began in a public viewing area, where thousands of people had gathered to watch the game on giant screens. It was there that the first car was set ablaze, but the mayhem quickly spread.

She has received a level of notoriety that goes way beyond the offence she committed. She’s stuck with that for a long time

By the end of the night, as a mix of smoke and tear gas hung over the city’s downtown, rioters had caused more than $4 million in damage spread over several blocks.

The Crown has approved charges against 173 people, while police have recommended charges against a total of 315 suspected rioters.

To date, there have been 110 guilty pleas involving adults and young offenders, 33 of whom have been sentenced, according to statistics provided by the province’s criminal justice branch.

Punishments have ranged from suspended and conditional sentences that avoided time in custody, community service orders, and jail terms of more than a year.

In the fall of 2011, the Vancouver Police fanned out across the city to serve warrants to all the local major media outlets. These warrants ordered the media outlets to turn over all photos and video footage they might have taken of the 2011 Stanley Cup riot. The motive behind the request was logical — police wanted to use the footage as evidence, especially images that may not have been broadcast or published and could contain evidence of crimes.

The media outlets fought back, arguing that should police access to photo journalism become routine, journalists and photographers would be in danger when covering public disturbances. Someone who’s just looted a store or burned a car might see value in attacking a journalist and destroying their equipment if they fear it could later be used to prosecute them. In a court challenge mounted by the media companies, a lawyer argued that the police were effectively seeking to deputize journalists.

The challenge ultimately failed. The photos were surrendered at the courts’ order. Clearly, police see value in citizen journalism. Or, at least, when the cameras aren’t pointed at them.

Recently, the CBC reported a disturbing story out of Burnaby, B.C. Jakub Markiewicz, a 16-year old amateur photographer and aspiring journalist, was in a local shopping mall when he saw mall security officers in a confrontation with a man. Mr. Markiewicz produced a camera from his backpack and began taking photos of the event. Mall security guards yelled at him to stop; Mr. Markiewicz continued. After security guards had finished arresting the man they were grappling with, Mr. Markiewicz reports turning to leave the mall. On his way out, he photographed the arrival of local RCMP officers who were on their way to assist the mall security guards.

That’s when Mr. Markiewicz claims he was grabbed by mall security, thrown to the ground and detained. The security guards seized his camera and insisted that he delete any photos he had taken of the arrest. Mr. Markiewicz explained that he was unable to comply — his camera uses old-style physical film, not a digital storage card. At that point, the security guards turned Mr. Markiewicz over to police, who handcuffed him and put inside an RCMP cruiser. Mr. Markiewicz reports that the police then cut his backpack off with a utility knife and searched his bag, finding his cameras, but nothing else remarkable.

Mr. Markiewicz was eventually released without being charged — something that the B.C. RCMP have confirmed. He has been banned from the mall property for six months. A spokesman for the mall’s ownership told the CBC, “[Mr. Markiewicz] didn’t comply with the request of the security nor the RCMP, so they took appropriate action they deemed necessary to defuse the situation.”

Appropriate action? The actions here hardly seem appropriate. Taking photos in a shopping mall that’s open to the public is not against the law. Indeed, it’s generally understood to be permitted unless the mall has posted clear signs saying otherwise, which was not the case here. While it’s true that a private property owner can ask someone to stop taking pictures on his land, the appropriate response to a photographer who won’t comply is to ask him to leave, or at worst to eject him from the property. Security guards should not have gone further and insisted that Mr. Markiewicz turn over his camera or delete his photographs. Further, by allegedly forcefully detaining him, it could be argued that the guards committed an assault against Mr. Markiewicz, who is not even alleged to have committed any crime and was trying to leave the property.

The poor conduct of the private security guards is worrisome enough, and Mr. Markiewicz is entirely correct to have sought legal counsel to consider his options. But the involvement of the RCMP makes this incident especially troubling. Yes, it is true that the officers who arrived on the scene might not have had a full appreciation of the situation, and would have relied upon the reports of the local security guards. But the fact remains that Mr. Markiewicz was not only arrested, but searched, without reasonable cause. This is a clear violation of Mr. Markiewicz’s rights, and, again, likely grounds for legal action against the RCMP.

Whatever steps Mr. Markiewicz takes will be his business. The broader issue here one of fundamental freedoms. Mr. Markiewicz was on private property, yes, but was there lawfully and committed no crimes. That he could be treated so, with the complicity of the police, should alarm every citizen. Especially since, in our digital age, reaching for a camera is the first reaction many of us have when witnessing an unusual event.

At the very least, the various police forces of British Columbia should get their stories straight. Are citizens photographing public disturbances a police asset, or themselves a disturbance? As it stands, the message being sent seems to be that the police are fine with anything being photographed, except for themselves and their private-sector partners.

VANCOUVER — The No. 1 suspect in last year’s Stanley Cup riot has for months existed as a nameless face on a police wanted poster, a young man in a blue Vancouver Canucks jersey placed on a photo grid of more than 100 people suspected of burning cars, looting stores and in some cases assaulting others.

Suspect IRIT-00001, as he’s known to investigators, is one of 15 people suspected of beating a Good Samaritan who was attempting to stop rioters from smashing the windows of the Bay department store and stealing merchandise from inside.

IRIT-00001 was the only one of those suspects police had yet to track down _ until this week, when investigators who spent months following his movements out of B.C. and across three provinces made an arrest in Saskatchewan.

Police announced Wednesday they had arrested Jonathan Stephen Mahoney, 24, a day earlier in Lanigan, Sask., a small community of about 1,200 people east of Saskatoon.

Mahoney, originally from Conception Bay, N.L., has been charged with participating in a riot, assault, assault with a weapon and mischief, said Insp. Laurence Rankin. Two officers travelled to Saskatchewan to make the arrest and were expected to return with Mahoney on Wednesday afternoon, said Rankin.

“He was certainly aware of what’s going on and we extended the opportunity to meet with him, and he chose not to,” said Rankin.

“I don’t want to speculate any more other than to say that he did move a lot, and it leaves one to wonder if it was because he didn’t want to be tracked down.”

Mahoney is charged in the assault of Robert MacKay, who was swarmed, beaten and pepper sprayed on June 15, 2011, as violence and lawlessness swept across several blocks of downtown Vancouver in the hours after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

Police have recommended charges against all 15 suspects in the MacKay beating; of those, charges have so far been approved against 11 adults and two youth.

Mahoney was working in Vancouver at the time of the riot, but later moved to Manitoba, his hometown of Conception Bay, N.L., and finally to Lanigan, Sask., where he was working at a potash mine, said Rankin.

Rankin said he had a chance to speak with MacKay and tell him the news.

“He’s very happy to see that we’ve continued to see it through,” said Rankin.

“Like a lot of the victims, not only the ones that were assaulted but victims of property crime, they were very relieved that we’re continuing the investigation. It’s been a year and a half, it’s been a long haul, but we’re continuing to do so because we haven’t forgotten or lost sight of the victims in this.”

Rankin also announced police were recommending charges against an additional 50 people. That brings the total number of accused rioters to 275, though Crown counsel has so far only approved charges against 156 of them, according to statistics provided by the Vancouver police.

Earlier this year, police indicated the investigation was scaling back due to a decrease in tips from the public. Currently, there are 22 investigators working on the file, said Rankin.

But Rankin said additional charges could still come. He said there were still a number of strong suspects, including some who may have been involved in serious assaults, and he urged the public once again to look at photos collected on the police department’s website to see whether they recognize anyone.

“We’re still receiving information and we still have viable suspects that we’re working on, so in that sense we’re still moving ahead,” he said.

As of this week, 73 rioters have pleaded guilty and 14 of them have been sentenced, according to the province’s criminal justice branch. Those sentences range from conditional sentences that don’t include jail time to jail terms of more than a year.

The riot caused nearly $4 million in damage over several blocks of downtown Vancouver. Rioters smashed windows, set cars on fire and looted stores for hours until police in riot gear and on horseback were able to bring the crowd under control.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/27/police-travel-from-the-country-to-capture-no-1-suspect-in-vancouvers-stanley-cup-riots/feed/6stdVancouver Police Chief Jim Chu holds up a poster of the VPD's most wanted during a news conference in Vancouver, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Those on the most wanted poster are people who were involved in the June, 2011 hockey riots.Online shaming enough punishment for Stanley Cup riot looter, Vancouver judge ruleshttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/07/online-shaming-enough-punishment-for-stanley-cup-riot-looter-vancouver-judge-rules/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/07/online-shaming-enough-punishment-for-stanley-cup-riot-looter-vancouver-judge-rules/#commentsFri, 07 Sep 2012 22:17:23 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=210543

VANCOUVER — A young woman who saw her schooling, employment and reputation crumble around her after a 20-second lapse in judgment during Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot has been spared jail time, with a judge concluding the scathing campaign of online shaming that targeted her was more than enough to ensure she learned her lesson.

Instead, 23-year-old Camille Cacnio, who was photographed stealing pants from a looted clothing store, was handed a suspended sentence that will include two years of probation, a nighttime curfew and 150 hours of community service. She will also be left with a criminal record.

Cacnio became a focal point for public anger after photos of her appeared on a series of name-and-shame websites, and an Internet apology that she authored only seemed to add to the online abuse she endured.

Provincial court Judge Joseph Galati accepted Cacnio’s argument that her behaviour on June 15, 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks’ loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final devolved into a destructive riot, was out of character for someone who appears to have a bright future in front of her.

The judge pointed to Cacnio’s academic achievements at the University of British Columbia, where she received numerous scholarships, and her experience volunteering in the community. The court also received numerous letters of support describing Cacnio as honest, hard working, responsible and compassionate.

“Until June 15, 2011, Ms. Cacnio led an exemplary life. … She is a young woman who has contributed to society and is motivated and capable of greater contributions going forward,” Galati said as Cacnio sat at the front of the court.

“Ms. Cacnio, to some degree, has been unjustly persecuted by the would-be pundits of the social media.”

Cacnio admitted to entering the smashed windows of a clothing store and taking two pairs of size 42 men’s pants — far too large for her — and a tie. The entire incident lasted 20 seconds.

When photos of her appeared online, she turned herself into the police and posted an apology on the Internet. Her apology initially attempted to explain her actions, saying she was drunk and overtaken by the mob mentality, but she later replaced that with a much shorter posting that focused on taking responsibility for her actions.

Cacnio’s sentence is by far the most lenient handed out as the rioters’ cases make their way through the courts, and could serve as a precedent for others who are seen to have only limited involvement in the riot and aren’t accused of vandalism or violence. Only one other person, Robert Snelgrove, has escaped jail, though he received a term of house arrest.

Ms. Cacnio, to some degree, has been unjustly persecuted by the would-be pundits of the social media

But Galati appeared to address inevitable complaints that Cacnio has gotten off lightly.

He pointed out she will still live with the stigma of a criminal conviction, and he noted she has already suffered greatly because of the attention her case has received in the news media and online.

Harassment at school forced her to put her studies on hold and the publicity has seen her fired from three separate jobs. She has also been prescribed mild anti-depressant medication.

“Ms. Cacnio has suffered unpleasant consequences as a result of her conduct, and the material filed (at her sentencing hearing) shows that the public is widely aware of that,” said Galati.

“There is no need to teach Ms. Cacnio a severe lesson. To the extent that she was not deterred by her remorse, she has been deterred by the post-riot public reaction and by this prosecution.”

The Crown asked for 15 to 30 days in jail, to be served on weekends. The defence asked for a conditional discharge that would have allowed her to avoid a criminal record.

Charges have so far been approved against more than 140 people alleged to have participated in the riot. Several dozen have pleaded guilty, but only a handful have been sentenced.

Police have predicted hundreds will eventually be charged.

The riot caused nearly $4-million in damage over several blocks of downtown Vancouver. Rioters smashed windows, set cars on fire and looted stores for hours until police in riot gear and on horseback were able to bring the crowd under control.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/07/online-shaming-enough-punishment-for-stanley-cup-riot-looter-vancouver-judge-rules/feed/0stdCamille CacnioChris Selley’s Full Pundit: ‘The Conservatives have become what they once opposed’http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/13/chris-selleys-full-pundit-the-conservatives-have-become-what-they-once-opposed/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/13/chris-selleys-full-pundit-the-conservatives-have-become-what-they-once-opposed/#commentsWed, 13 Jun 2012 16:08:47 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=81657

It’s the nature of the beastIn which the Tories continue slowly destroying themselves for no reason at all.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Dan Gardner directs some well-deserved praise at Elizabeth May for her wonkish, principled and useful opposition to the government’s omnibus “budget” bill. Ultimately the bill will pass, of course, and May suspects the Conservatives will change procedures such that unaffiliated MPs like her won’t be able to move amendments to legislation at this stage of the game (“thus completing the work begun by the Chrétien Liberals and demonstrating yet again that the Conservatives have become what they once opposed,” says Gardner). But along the way, Gardner says she provided “proof of what even the most disadvantaged MP can do — if they are not muzzled and leashed by a party leader.”

We especially liked this quote from May: “I look at Peter Kent and I think my God man you had a great reputation. You were a great journalist. … And you’re going to stand up in the House and read the lines?” It really is awfully sad.

Postmedia’s Michael Den Tandt believes the Conservatives’ strategy is to “ram the 430-page bill through, in all its ungainly, kitchen-sink shabbiness, then refurbish the government’s image in July with a cabinet shuffle,” and sail smoothly and serenely towards another majority election win. The problem, as he says, is that all this stuff adds up; that there will be further bad press, even if you take Peter MacKay’s “toys” away and clamp down on Bev Oda’s accommodations; and that, for heaven’s sake, there is no reason for the Tories to suffer this way. “With three years to run, thumbing one’s nose at Parliament and the electorate when doing so is not necessary, is like tromping through cow plop rather than taking the grassy, tree-lined path.” Exactly. Why can’t these people help themselves?

The National Post’s John Ivison reports that Maxime Bernier’s support for an NDP private member’s bill that would mandate bilingualism for officers of Parliament has thrown senior Conservatives into something of a tizzy. “The Harper government may not want to support the NDP bill but it is clear that opposing it, or even remaining neutral, would send out the wrong message to a province ever-vigilant for real or perceived slights,” says Ivison. Our suggestion would be to acknowledge that reasonable people can disagree on such things, and have someone make an intelligent case against the legislation. But we’re just crazy dreamers that way. As if that would ever work.

Kids these daysThe Post’s Jonathan Kay finds some interesting parallels between the Port Huron Statement, a 1962 left-wing students’ manifesto, and the general complaints of Quebec’s modern student movement: polarized, gridlocked politics; wealth inequality; jobs; the cost of education. What students in 1962 had that they do not in 2012, Kay notes, is galvanizing “moral urgency” to tackle two main problems: “the permeating and victimizing fact of human degradation, symbolized by the Southern struggle against racial bigotry” (as the statement put it); and (as Kay puts it) “the atomic stand-off with the USSR, and the consequent fear that millions might be exterminated at any time.” Kay sees Quebec as, “in many ways, the sort of socially liberal welfare state that [the 1960s] protesters dreamed of,” which may be why “so many of us find the Quebec student protesters slightly ridiculous.” He suggests a reasonably coherent manifesto of their own might at least “help clarify their demands.”

Québec Solidaire leader Amir Khadir clearly thinks the poster of himself standing over a dead Jean Charest in a spoof of Delacroix’ Liberty Leading the People is a “lark,” says the Post’s Graeme Hamilton, but he finds it rather “disturbing” that one of the province’s most popular MNAs “would think nothing of displaying an image of the Premier killed by revolutionaries.” Also disturbing, Hamilton uncontroversially suggests, is that a student leader would Tweet approvingly of a video showing “a cartoon Mr. Charest in the grasp of two masked protesters and looped the lyric ‘Charest in the car trunk’” — which is, as Hamilton says, “sickening.” It’s weird: We’re sure we’ve been assured numerous times that such “eliminationist” rhetoric and imagery is the sole province of the political right.

TheGlobe and Mail’s editorialists think the one-month jail sentence handed to Stanley Cup rioter Emmanuel “this is crazy” Alviar “has set an excellent precedent” for what they hope are many more custodial sentences to come. Seconded. The Post’s Matt Gurney, for his part, thinks Alviar should be thankful only to get a month in the slammer. And he hopes people like him and legendary bad-apologizer Camille Cacnio are beginning to realize that blaming their actions on the mob doesn’t fly — for the simple reason that without individuals like them, there is no mob.

Duly notedPostmedia’s Christie Blatchford reports on some scandalous “double-dipping” allegations being levelled against doctors in rural Ontario, who are accused of improperly “deducting from their office hours time they put in at the local emergency department.” The upshot is that a lot of people who are lucky enough to have family doctors can’t ever get an appointment to see them.

Vancouver — A 20-year-old Surrey, B.C., man who pleaded guilty to rioting after the Stanley Cup final last year was led away in handcuffs after being sentenced to one month in jail Monday.

“This is crazy,” Emmanuel Alviar, 20, said quietly while he was led by a sheriff into custody at Vancouver Provincial Court.

The Crown had asked for four months in jail. Alviar’s lawyer had asked for him to be spared time in custody and given a conditional sentence instead, meaning he might go to jail only if he committed another crime. But the judge said a conditional sentence wouldn’t deter others from participating in a riot, noting it was Vancouver’s second Stanley Cup riot.

Alviar, a slight man dressed in a black suit and matching tie, was accompanied by his mother and brother. His brother blinked away tears outside court and said he had no comment.

The judge noted that Alviar was caught on video in three separate incidents over four hours last June 15, including rocking two vehicles and throwing a board through the Telus building window.

Getty Images filesRiot police stand in front of two burning police cars as people look on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver. Vancouver broke out in riots after the Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Alviar was also sentenced to 16 months probation and 150 hours of community service. He will be eligible for early release after serving two-thirds of his sentence, or about three weeks. In addition, he must send apology letters to Vancouver’s mayor and police chief.

Seven other people have pleaded guilty to various offences including mischief, break and enter and assaulting a police officer as a result of the riot, in which hundred of people broke windows, looted stores and set cars on fire.

Police have recommended close to 600 charges against about 200 suspected rioters so far. The Crown, which makes the final decision on laying criminal charges in B.C., has approved 276 charges against 104 people. Police say they expect more charges to be laid.

Postmedia News, with files from The Canadian Press

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/11/stanley-cup-rioter-emmanuel-alviar-gets-month-in-jail/feed/0stdEmmanuel Alviar leaves B.C. provincial court in Vancouver May 3 after answering charges of participating in a riot. Alviar was sentenced to a month in jail Monday.Riot police stand in front of two burning police cars as people look on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver. Vancouver broke out in riots after the Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Canucks hockey playoff celebrations this year won’t include riots: Vancouver mayorhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/canucks-hockey-playoff-celebrations-this-year-wont-include-riots-vancouver-mayor/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/canucks-hockey-playoff-celebrations-this-year-wont-include-riots-vancouver-mayor/#commentsWed, 28 Mar 2012 16:27:01 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=156009

By Jeff Lee

VANCOUVER — Saying they had learned from the mistakes that contributed to the ugly Stanley Cup riot last year, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and other officials are rolling up the red carpet to downtown public celebrations should the Vancouver Canucks make it to the semifinals of the playoffs this year.

Instead, the city plans to put out little red carpets at its 23 community centres, inviting families and youth to watch the playoffs in much more toned-down conditions than the closed streets and Jumbotron screens that attracted 150,000 people last June 15.

And as part of the elusive goal of fostering civility during hockey playoffs, police throughout the Lower Mainland have signed on to a multi-jurisdictional plan to stop the free flow of alcohol into downtown Vancouver, aggressively patrol against potential rioters and shut down transit systems when unruly crowds begin to congregate.

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In a briefing Tuesday, Robertson said he believes most people have got the message that what happened last June, when several thousand people rioted in the face of the Canucks’ seventh-game loss to the Boston Bruins, cannot happen again. The full effects of that riot, which caused millions of dollars in damage and gave the city an international black eye, have not yet run their course.

At least 75 people have been charged with nearly 200 criminal offences, from participating in a riot to theft and assault.

Getty Images filesPeople pose in front of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver. Vancouver broke out in riots after the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

“We have been working very hard to ensure the lessons from the Game 7 tragedy are reflected in this year’s plan,” Robertson said. “Having fun doesn’t mean coming down and trashing our downtown. You better not come downtown and do that.”

Robertson said the city won’t allow street closures and huge gatherings downtown for the playoffs. But it also doesn’t want to go back to the “no fun city” moniker.

So Vancouver will spend $100,000 on “community celebrations” geared toward families. It is also hiring an event planner to help create a festive air for those who want to celebrate the Canucks as they proceed through the playoffs. Many more details won’t be finalized until the Canucks get deep into the post-season.

In the nine months since the riot, the city has turned itself inside out trying to determine how, for the second time in its history, hockey playoffs turned into a riot.

There have been at least four separate investigations or reviews into the 2011 riot, including one by the city, one by the Vancouver police department, an independent review by John Furlong and Doug Keefe and a technical review by the Ottawa Police Department.

They collectively issued 129 recommendations, from the need for earlier interdiction of alcohol on the SkyTrain transit system to better co-ordination between agencies to eliciting support from media to get “don’t be a binge drinker” messages out to the public.

Many of those recommendations were at the crux of the changes the city announced Tuesday in partnership with TransLink, the Vancouver police department, the British Columbia Ambulance Service and several other partners. The city says 101 of the 129 recommended changes already have been made and many of the rest will be done by the time the playoffs start next month.

Robertson said he wants to see people come downtown to patronize bars, restaurants and other businesses, and the city will “scale up” its response as the Canucks proceed through the playoffs. But the city may rely on SkyTrain to either close stations or skip stops to limit people coming downtown.

Doug Kelsey, the chief operating officer of TransLink, said his agency made a mistake last year in not controlling drinking crowds that boarded SkyTrain.

“I think we have to be self-reflective on this. One thing we did not do, the region did not do, was put in place the liquor interdiction strategy soon enough,” he said. “You will see the increased police interdiction strategy with the regional police. Transit police can’t carry this all off themselves.”

Deputy Police Chief Doug LePard said police don’t expect trouble this year because of the continuing riot investigation. He said the Vancouver force is in the last stages of signing agreements with other police departments to render mutual aid around “regional events.” Details on how that aid would be financed are nearly complete. Vancouver has long complained that it has to bear the financial brunt for celebrations that attract citizens from all over the Vancouver region.

LePard said the police will be equipped with more cameras to identify suspects, and will carry pre-printed tickets to hand out for liquor violations. That advance effort will help slow down people intent on illegally bringing alcohol to consume in public places.

“Make no mistake, if people intend to come downtown to make trouble, we will be waiting,” LePard said.

Noticeably absent from the news conference was Canucks Sports & Entertainment, owners of the National Hockey League team. Robertson said the company is fully supportive of the city’s plans and is also developing its own messaging plan for its 700,000 fans. That program will be announced by the company later, he said.

Furlong, whose independent review into the Stanley Cup Riot was considered the blueprint for the changes, said he is pleased with the efforts made to avoid a repeat of last year’s fiasco.

“Everyone is holding hands on this,” he said, adding he doesn’t believe another riot will ensue.

But he grew testy when reporters persisted in questioning how the city was going to deal with young people who don’t want to go to community centres and instead come downtown.

“There have been three questions about if there is a plan, and there have been questions about costs. There is a plan,” he said. “The thing is, the test I put this (plan) to is whether this layout, this plan, this strategy is going to adapt with the changing environment that we might get ourselves into. As we go along the plan is well set up to manage against the changing environment. The biggest thing about this plan is it decentralizes the activity.”

Vancouver Sun

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/canucks-hockey-playoff-celebrations-this-year-wont-include-riots-vancouver-mayor/feed/3stdRiot police stand in front of two burning police cars as people look on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver. Vancouver broke out in riots after the Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.People pose in front of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver. Vancouver broke out in riots after the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Vancouver’s new Stanley Cup motto: ‘Don’t come ­downtown’http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/vancouvers-new-stanley-cup-motto-dont-come-%c2%addowntown/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/vancouvers-new-stanley-cup-motto-dont-come-%c2%addowntown/#commentsWed, 28 Mar 2012 04:28:03 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=155857

Rich Lam/Getty ImagesPeople take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

VANCOUVER – Just in case the Canucks reach the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, Vancouver authorities unveiled a strategy to avoid a repeat of last year’s June riots.

“If the Canucks go the distance — and I know we all are hoping they will — we are prepared to scale up our plans as the games and the rounds proceed,” said Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

For one, police have laid plans to crack down on public drunkenness. Also, instead of gathering 100,000 people around screens in the downtown core, city organizers will instead corral fans into smaller community-based celebrations.

“So I think this time around ‘don’t come downtown’ is going to be the philosophy,” Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu told a police board meeting last week.

The core of the plan comes from a post-riot review drafted last September by lawyer Douglas Keefe and John Furlong, former CEO of Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee.

The review found that police should have anticipated the massive crowds – and that police, transit and liquor authorities did little to stem the flow of alcohol into downtown. “Alcohol consumption was unbridled,” read the report.

The Canucks have only made the Stanley Cup playoffs three times. Two of those times, in 1994 and 2011, the city erupted into devastating riots following the team’s Game 7 loss.

Postmedia News

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/28/vancouvers-new-stanley-cup-motto-dont-come-%c2%addowntown/feed/0stdPeople take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver broke out in riots after their hockey team the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. Matt Gurney: London’s students riot because they know they canhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/19/matt-gurney-londons-students-riots-because-they-know-they-can/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/19/matt-gurney-londons-students-riots-because-they-know-they-can/#commentsMon, 19 Mar 2012 15:32:05 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=71593

On Saturday night, in London, Ont., St. Patrick’s Day revellers spilled out onto the residential street Fleming Drive and began setting fires. When emergency crews responded, the students — estimates have given counts of anywhere from 300 to 1,000 – attacked the first responders with rocks and bottles. The police and emergency crews retreated and regrouped while the mob cheered and continued to flip cars and set fires. The riot eventually petered out. Police have arrested 13 so far, including seven students from nearby Fanshawe College, many of whose students live on Fleming Drive.

Officials in London are making all the usual disgusted noises. “You will pay in one way, shape or form,” said Mayor Joe Fontana. Police Chief Brad Duncan chimed in, noting that local students “are under the illusion … that they can reject the lawful authority of police and emergency services personnel.” Except it’s not an illusion. Fleming Drive has been an effectively lawless enclave for a decade. The students realize that with more clarity than the police and Mayor do, apparently.

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The weekend’s riot wasn’t the first such incident on Fleming Drive. Or the second, for that matter. The Saturday riot, in fact, was at least the fourth such outbreak of civil disorder on Fleming Drive in the last five years (and that’s not counting a riot in 2001, the first such recorded incident). In 2007, at the start of the academic year, students on Fleming Drive spilled out of parties, set several fires and pelted first responders with bottles when they arrived to extinguish them. A smaller group had another bottle-fight amongst themselves and police barely a month later. In the fall of 2009, the same street was rocked by an identical disturbance — fires set, bottles thrown, police and emergency crews attacked. A city councillor warned after the 2009 incident that a full-blown riot would eventually erupt there. He was right.

In each of the instances above, arrests were light, with no public follow through. As a student housing area, there is frequent residency turnover — the rioters of 2011 were unlikely to have lived on Fleming Drive in 2009, and and almost certainly did not live there in 2007. This admittedly makes such incidents hard to deter — it would take a strong, public police response to leave a lasting memory, something that would be passed on as part of the neighbourhood’s lore, and that has been sorely lacking. Combined with the seeming police ineffectiveness following last year’s riot in Vancouver and the 2010 G20-related violence in Toronto, the ability of police to deter and defeat rioters has been brought into question. The students there know they may act with near impunity.

For that, much of the blame must fall upon civic leaders and the police. London Police claim that they were maintaining a presence on Fleming Drive last weekend, and yet they were still overwhelmed and forced to retreat. During the riot, someone threw a propane tank into a bonfire. Had that tank been full, and if it had exploded, dozens of the rioters could easily have been killed or severely burned. It was only good fortune that prevented that outcome, and had it occurred, the police would have had to explain why they were holding a perimeter while drunk students triggered a potentially deadly explosion. Clearly, being caught by surprise would not have been a reasonable excuse.

The only thing that will deter more violence on Fleming Drive is a strong police response to future disorder — no more retreating before the mob — and successful prosecutions. As was the case in the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot, police are already receiving tips from the public about the identity of rioters caught on film or tape, and many of the stupider riots boasted about their participation on social media. They are also being investigated, often after being given in by a friend or acquaintance. This evidence must be put to good use, with those involved in Saturday’s mayhem put behind bars. And in the future, London’s police must swiftly deal with spreading disorder before lives are again put in danger by the short-sighted actions of a drunken, reckless mob.

Brent Lewin/National PostVic Toews, speaking from a place of public safety

It’s a close race, but our Loser of the Week award goes to this guy, so far mercifully (for his sake) unidentified, who flew his four-seater Cessna into restricted airspace on Thursday just as President Barack Obama was flying to Los Angeles aboard Marine One, his military helicopter. Oh, and look — the Cessna was stuffed with marijuana. About 20 pounds, which would seem (to a non-pothead) like more than you’d normally require for personal usage. Runner-up in this week’s contest is Vic Toews, the Public Safety Minister, who could use some public safety officers to protect him from himself. After attracting national ridicule by suggesting anyone opposed to giving police unfettered access to private computer communications must be on the side of child pornographers, the minister was blindsided when some bright spark (from inside the House of Commons yet) twittered details of his ugly divorce, just to how show easy (and unappetizing) it is to obtain and disseminate dirty secrets online. Toews places second, though, because, unlike marijuana man, he’s not likely to spend time cooling his heels in jail.

Full Comment beefed so much about the leisurely pace the Vancouver Police Department took in rounding up and charging Stanley Cup rioters that we feel obligated to commend the B.C. provincial court for sentencing the first convicted rioter to 17 months. It’s particularly admirable that the judge ignored the accused’s self-serving justification: “I was caught up in the moment … I made some very bad decisions.” Yeah, well, we all make bad decisions, but we don’t all toss furniture through store windows because our hockey team lost.

More great news for people who live in Canada’s finest city (self-regard category): Not only does Toronto have to put up with the travesty that calls itself Dalton McGuinty, but there’s a major mess being played out at Toronto Hydro, which has been dismantling itself since the Energy Board refused to give it a rate hike to finance $1.5 billion in spending plans, on the grounds that it couldn’t justify the need. After cancelling a bunch of projects and putting contract workers out of work, and warning of regular brownouts (despite paying $3 million in bonuses to its executives), Toronto Hydro is now offering buyouts to 460 employees in an effort to save $20 million. “It’s quite disturbing,” said CUPE Local One president John Camilleri. “I would say it will cripple the city’s ability to provide reliable, continuous service.” Yeah, well, who cares, as long as the Hydro bigwigs get their bonuses?

Jason Kenney deserves the Best Immigration Minister Ever award. After letting refugee abuse fester for years, Ottawa is finally cleaning it up, and the so-called reforms are so rich in common sense it’s a wonder it took so long. The solution to phony refugee claims: just designate a list of “safe” countries where serious persecution is unlikely and fast-track any claims from those places through the system. One caveat: The Tories do tend to overreach when getting “tough” on miscreants, and they may have gone too far in putting almost all decision-making over which countries are “safe” in the hands of the minister. Is every immigration minister supposed to be an expert on every country in the world? A small expert advisory board (unpaid) wouldn’t seem too much to include in the plan.

Quebec’s post-secondary students are still bitching about tuition hikes, for cripe sakes. Join the club, kids. I Googled “tuition hikes spark protest” and got stories from Britain, New York and California before finding any from Quebec. Of all of them, the Quebecers have the weakest case: they’re so used to the la-la land created by years of heavily-subsidized tuitions that they’re protesting at staggered fee increases which, in five years, will have them paying $2,000 less than Ontario students pay today. “Education is not a luxury, it’s a right,” says one of the protesters. So if I want to stay in school until I’m 40, it’s your job to pay. How does one say “Grow up” in French?

There’s a quiet little nuclear war going on between Kevin Page and Jim Flaherty. The Finance Minister is tired of the Parliamentary Budget Officer suggesting his numbers are all wrong. He took a public whack at Page after the PBO argued there is no crisis over the Old Age Security program, which the Conservatives have determined to “fix”. Flaherty called Page’s position “unbelievable, unreliable [and] incredible.” Yeah, well sez you: Page is now urging the government to release any numbers it has that might back up its claim, “in the interests of budget transparency and accountability.” He isn’t being quiet about it, either: he told Postmedia News in an interview the Finance Minister is “making multibillion-dollar decisions that are going to affect the future of this country, that are going to affect fiscal federalism, that will affect the provinces. And where’s their analysis? Nada. Nothing.” Jeez, Jim isn’t going to like that.

FacebookRyan Dickinson, 20, of Coquitlam, B.C. was sentenced to 17 months in prison —less time served — Thursday for participating in the Stanley Cup riots.

By Andrea Woo and Evan Duggan

VANCOUVER — The first person sentenced for his role in last summer’s Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver was handed a 17-month prison term on Thursday, less 3 1/2 months for time served.

Ryan Dickinson also was given two years’ probation and several conditions, including that he not possess or consume illicit drugs or alcohol.

The sentence was handed down Thursday afternoon in Vancouver provincial court.

Dickinson, 20, pleaded guilty Jan. 6 to participating in a riot and being in breach of a recognizance.

He has been jailed since December for his role in the June 15 riot, during which he was photographed and videotaped taking part in a mob that destroyed police cars in downtown Vancouver. He also was recorded tossing a newspaper box and a mannequin into a looted and wrecked store.

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Crown prosecution had requested up to 18 months in jail for Dickinson, while his lawyer had recommended one year.

The riot broke out after the Vancouver Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins.

Dickinson’s sentencing comes three days after a judge rejected the provincial government’s request to have Dickinson’s sentencing televised.

Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesPeople take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver after the city broke out in riots.

Judge Malcolm MacLean said granting the request would require assistance from an amicus curiae — a friend of the court — to sort out the complex issues raised by the application.

The court wasn’t prepared to delay sentencing for that to happen.

The B.C. government had said it intended to televise the sentencing of those found guilty of the numerous offences that took place on the night of the riot that resulted in injuries to police and bystanders as well as property damage.

Following MacLean’s decision, B.C. Attorney General Shirley Bond said the government would rescind its request to ensure the trials would move ahead without further delay.

Postmedia News

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/16/stanley-cup-rioter-ryan-dickinson/feed/0stdRyan Dickinson, 20, of Coquitlam, B.C. was sentenced to 17 months in prison —less time served — Thursday for participating in the Stanley Cup riots.Riot Breaks Out After Game In VancouveraPeople take pictures of a burning vehicle on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver after the city broke out in riots.‘Miss Congeniality’ plans to plead guilty to Vancouver riot charge: lawyerhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/miss-congeniality-plans-to-plead-guilty-to-vancouver-riot-charge-lawyer/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/miss-congeniality-plans-to-plead-guilty-to-vancouver-riot-charge-lawyer/#commentsThu, 19 Jan 2012 21:21:51 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=131563

VANCOUVER — A former beauty-pageant contestant charged with participating in the Stanley Cup riot intends to plead guilty, her lawyer said.

Sophie Laboissonniere, 20, is alleged to be among the horde of rioters that looted London Drugs in downtown Vancouver following the Canucks’ Game Seven loss.

The Richmond, B.C., resident is charged with breaking and entering and taking part in a riot.

Her lawyer, David Baker, said he is in plea discussions with the Crown.

“It was her intention from the outset, ever since she was identified, to enter a guilty plea,” he said outside Vancouver provincial court Thursday.

Laboissonniere made a bad choice during an impulsive moment, he said.

“She is taking responsibility for what she has done. She doesn’t see herself as a victim.”

Laboissonniere was crowned Miss Congeniality at a Miss Coastal Vancouver pageant and participated in the Miss B.C. pageant a few months before the riot occurred.

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/miss-congeniality-plans-to-plead-guilty-to-vancouver-riot-charge-lawyer/feed/0stdAccording to her blog, which has been removed from Google's Blogger service, Sophie LaBoissonniere "brought home The Miss Congeniality Title and Royalty award" at the Miss Coastal Vancouver pageant.miss-cong1Vancouver police push for 63 new charges against 20 more riot suspectshttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/vancouver-police-push-for-charges-63-new-charges-against-20-more-riot-suspects/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/vancouver-police-push-for-charges-63-new-charges-against-20-more-riot-suspects/#commentsTue, 17 Jan 2012 21:28:07 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=130662

COQUITLAM, B.C. — A Coquitlam man is the first to enter a guilty plea for his involvement in the Stanley Cup riot.

In a red jail-issue outfit, Ryan Dickinson, 20, entered guilty pleas at Vancouver Provincial Court Friday on charges of participating in a riot and breach of his recognizance. Dickinson was held in custody pending a Feb. 7 sentencing date.

In early December, Dickinson was among the first group of people to be charged for his alleged involvement in the June 15 mayhem. At the time of the riot, Dickinson was on a court-ordered curfew and was dealing with an aggravated assault charge that happened in 2010.

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After being arrested he was charged with participating in a riot, two counts of mischief and breach of an undertaking.

On Friday, Crown prosecutor Patti Tomasson dealt with the riot and the breach offences and a day was set aside for the sentencing on those charges. The Crown also continued to inform the court that there will be an application to have the sentencing televised.

A pre-sentence report was ordered on Dickinson, an apprentice sheet-metal worker.

At the time of the June 15 riot, Dickinson was already dealing with an aggravated assault and robbery charge from a 2010 incident. In October, Dickinson was given a year’s probation after the robbery charge was dropped and he was convicted of assault.

During the Stanley Cup riot, a drunken mob flipped cars, lit them on fire, smashed store windows and looted stores. The Vancouver Police Department has been analyzing more than 1,500 hours of video footage they gathered from the infamous night. So far Vancouver police have recommended to Crown 215 criminal charges against 80 individuals who they allege participated in the riot.

Postmedia News

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/06/b-c-man-pleads-guilty-to-participating-in-stanley-cup-riot/feed/0stdWorkers repair and collect debris in the aftermath of a riot in Vancouver, which started after thousands ran amok after game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins June 15.The Full Comment ‘Brain Half Full’ award of the year goes to…http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/27/the-full-comment-brain-half-full-award-of-the-year-goes-to/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/27/the-full-comment-brain-half-full-award-of-the-year-goes-to/#commentsTue, 27 Dec 2011 13:00:31 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=61268

The Full Comment “Brain Half Full” award is offered in recognition of people, institutions or policies that reflect the very dumbest in human endeavor over the course of the year. We prefer “half full” to “half empty” because we are hopeless optimists. Our nominees represent the worst, lowest or most ridiculous “news” events to have tried the patience of sentient human beings. (We’re talking national affairs here, not your cousin Bernie betting the family cottage on Greek bonds.)

And the nominees are…

•People in Vancouver who stood around like idiots while a pack of grinning morons looted stores and posed with their booty in the Stanley Cup riot. The looters were bad enough; the supposedly upstanding citizens who thought it was all a joke and cheered them on need their brains recalibrated to “sensible.”

• The Occupy movement. People lying around in tents in downtown parks because somehow that will combat “corporate greed”, or solve one of the two dozen other complaints they had, which essentially boiled down to: “I want the world to be different, but I don’t want to have to out out any effort myself, other than hanging out in this tent.” In the U.S. there was real reason for protest; in Canada it was mainly, “Hey, look what they’re doing in New York. I wanna do that too.”

• The Quebec couple who couldn’t get a 7-Up in French. Because of bilingualism or something. Lord, get a life, will ya?

• Pat Martin, the ridiculous Winnipeg MP who called for greater civility in Parliament, then told a Tweeter critic: “F*** You.”

• All the people in the world who took some event that upset them, and compared it to Hitler. Like here and here and here and here and here and here and here…
No one is like Hitler, people (except maybe these cats). Anyone who suggests it just looks like a twerp.

• Flotillas to Gaza. How sad do you have to be when the only cause you can find in the world is trying to assist a blood-soaked organization like Hamas undermine the only democratic country in the region? There are lots of good causes, and plenty of Arab needs that deserve support, but offering moral and political reinforcement to a bunch of terrorist fanatics isn’t one of them.

• Whatever rule required that the city of Calgary buy $1.6 million worth of art and put it in a tunnel leading to the airport. Not a pedestrian tunnel, a traffic tunnel, where no one will see it unless they aren’t paying attention to their driving.

• Brigette DePape, the Parlimentary page who knows so little about democracy that she launched a one-person “Stop Harper” protest to show that the “real power to change things lies not with Harper but in the hands of the people” — just days after the government had been freely elected for a third time by the people, and with a bigger victory margin than ever.

• The increasing kindergartenization of the House of Commons, where Conservatives refused to allow Bloc Québécois and Green party MPs to speak in the Commons on Remembrance Day; Liberal and New Democrat MPs insisted Conservative MPs should stay away from a memorial service for the victims of Marc Lépine, because they oppose the long-gun registry; the Conservatives admitted sponsoring a dirty tricks campaign against Montreal MP Irwin Cotler (and then defended it as “free speech”); the government refused to accredit opposition members for a climate change conference, then criticized an NDP MP for not attending; Justin Trudeau called Peter Kent a “piece of sh–;” and a Conservative MP argued that all future Government Operations Committee should be held behind closed doors.

And all that between October and December.

Chris Wattie/ReutersFather of the bride Michael Middleton, leads his daughter Catherine down the aisle to be wed to Prince William, followed by Pippa Middleton during their wedding at Westminster Abbey.

• Whatever convinced Justin Trudeau to show up for work looking like a stand-in for one of the three Musketeers.

• The ongoing persecution of Linda Gibbons, 63, for the crime of holding a sign near an abortion clinic. Gibbons has spent a total of nine years in jail since 1994 because she persists in standing within 150 metres of Toronto abortion clinics, holding a sign that says: “Why Mom? When I Have So Much Love to Give.” Says an abortion activist: “Why should they have to put up with that? And why should the staff have to put up with someone standing there mumbling at them? Most people can’t imagine what’s that like. But I’ll tell you, it’s not a nice feeling.’’ I’ll bet … especially when you’re in a hurry to get rid of the baby.

• The genius who advised Jean Charest he didn’t have to call an inquiry to get to the bottom of corruption allegations permeating the Quebec construction industry, and could tough it out. Probably the same guy who told federal Liberals not to worry about the Sponsorship scandal, because everyone would forget about it in a few days.

• This Hour Has 22 Minutes, for sending Mary Walsh to stand in Rob Ford’s driveway and wave her sword at him. a) Because Marg Delhunty is so side-splittingly hilarious b) Because Rob Ford’s the kind of guy who’ll think it’s funny to be mocked by the CBC at 8 a.m. c) Because it’s a good idea to get the CBC caught in a political spitting match when the federal Tories are just itching for an excuse to get nasty nastier.

• Those members of the Parliamentary press gallery who felt it was important to make an issue out of the fact some members of the NDP got seat upgrades on their way to Jack Layton’s funeral. Someone was actually required to ask Olivia Chow for a comment. Good news judgment on that one, guys.

• Toronto’s ongoing crusade against the hot dog. It began when the ubernannies in Mayor David Miller’s brain trust decided Torontonians should be force-fed nuts and berries and other health items, and did its best to harass hot dog carts from the sidewalk. It’s continuing under the Brothers Ford (who, lets admit it, look like they don’t miss many meals, and we’re not talking sushi). Vendors have already been driven from Bloor Street, where chi-chi ladies evidently don’t like the temptation of a grilled weenie when they’re trying to maintain their anorexia. Lately, cart owners on Front Street have also been advised to look elsewhere for work. These are independent small businesses, and the reason there are so many is because there’s lots of demand. People want hot dogs. Why that’s such an issue at city hall is a mystery.

VANCOUVER — The Crown gave notice in court Wednesday that the attorney general wants to televise proceedings involving accused Stanley Cup rioters.

Prosecutor Patti Tomasson told a judge that the Crown would apply to have the proceedings televised involving people accused of participating in the June 15 riot. B.C. Premier Christy Clark has said she wants to see riot-related court proceedings televised for the public.

The prosecutor gave notice Wednesday at the bail hearing of Ryan Dickinson, who remains in custody. His case was adjourned until Friday at 9 a.m. at Vancouver Provincial Court.

Dickinson is accused of participating in a riot, mischief and breaching his undertaking.

The "New Year, New Steps." blogAccording to her blog, which has been removed from Google's Blogger service, Sophie LaBoissonniere "brought home The Miss Congeniality Title and Royalty award" at the Miss Coastal Vancouver pageant.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/stanley-cup-riot-proceedings-should-be-televised-crown-prosecutor/feed/0stdRiot police walk in the street on June 15, 2011 in Vancouver after riots broke out when the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.According to her blog, which has been removed from Google's Blogger service, Sophie LaBoissonniere "brought home The Miss Congeniality Title and Royalty award" at the Miss Coastal Vancouver pageant.‘Miss Congeniality’ among first to appear in court on Stanley Cup riot chargeshttp://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/miss-congeniality-among-first-to-appear-in-court-on-charges-related-to-stanley-cup-riot/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/miss-congeniality-among-first-to-appear-in-court-on-charges-related-to-stanley-cup-riot/#commentsWed, 14 Dec 2011 05:57:57 +0000http://nationalpostnews.wordpress.com/?p=119093

By John Colebourn

VANCOUVER — A Richmond, B.C. beauty queen is among the first to appear in provincial court Wednesday on charges stemming from last summer’s Stanley Cup riot.

Sophie Laboissonniere, 20, who won Miss Congeniality at the recent Miss Coastal Vancouver Pageant appears in Vancouver Provincial Court Wednesday charged with break and enter and participating in a riot.

Laboissonniere makes a first appearance on the riot-related charges along with Oliver Burke, Anthony Larsen, Matthew Lennox, Jeff Post and Robert Snelgrove.

Snelgrove, 25, who is charged with participating in a riot and break and enter has already gone on television claiming he made a bad decision in the looting of the Sears store that infamous night.

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“I felt really ashamed, basically I got caught up in the moment,” Snelgrove said shortly after the June 15 riot. “It was like a war zone — everybody else was doing it.

“I had a lot to drink that night . . . I have never stolen in my life, it’s not like me.”

FileSophie LaBoissonniere was 20 at the time of the June 2011 riot.

Vancouver police allege Laboissonniere was among the mob that tore up downtown Vancouver the night of the final Stanley Cup game in which the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in game 7. She is accused of being among the group that broke into London Drugs.

Vancouver police have recommended more than 163 charges against more than 60 people so far and Crown lawyers have approved the first cases, which go Wednesday through Friday. Others have court appearances in early January.

Vancouver police Insp. Les Yeo has said police continue to work on more charges.

Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie said five Crown lawyers are dedicated to the riot cases.

Investigators travelled to a specialized lab in Indianapolis to examine 5,000 hours of footage collected in a forensic video database.

London Drugs president Wynne Powell said they are keeping close tabs on the upcoming court appearances.

He said looters stole $424,000 worth of merchandise from the store once the heavy duty glass and security gate was smashed down by the mob. Damage to the store was $225,000 and Powell said they are still working with the company’s insurers to see what will be covered under their policies.

He said they have passed on their state-of-the-art security video footage to police and will have the company’s security experts ready to appear in court if needed.

He said they have clear video of the first looters coming in to the store after the doors and glass had been destroyed.

“They had a shopping list,” Powell said of some of the mob.

Jason Payne / PNGRiots after game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins in Vancouver, B.C. Wednesday, June 15, 2011

“They were stealing specific products, specific brands,” he said. Powell is hoping to get some of the stolen merchandise back.

“It was like a Boxing Day sale with no cash register,” he said of the ransacking and looting of the London Drugs store.

“We have been very careful to provide the appropriate footage that we feel will stand up to any defence lawyers’ challenge.

“Our track record is over 90 per cent conviction rate once we show the video,” he said of cases they have been involved in with charges like shoplifting. “I have great faith in the justice system.”

The trials may also set new standards as television cameras may be used at some point in the legal proceedings. In her Throne Speech, B.C. Premier Christy Clark said the government wants TV cameras and radio microphones in the courtrooms where the Stanley Cup riot charges are being heard.

“The government has requested Crown counsel to advocate for television and radio access to the courts during the proceedings for those charged,” said Lieut-Gov. Steven Point during the Throne Speech in October.

Criminal lawyers have raised concern the riot charges will put a heavy burden on the court system.

Lawyer Chandra Corriveau said she hopes the riot cases are not given precedence over other long-awaited court appearances by others.

“There should be no special treatment,” she said of those up on riot charges.

She also said the difficulty is the Crown prosecutors are already overworked.

“The difficulty in our system right now is whether there is a Crown prosecutor there to prosecute,” she said. “There is not enough of them.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/miss-congeniality-among-first-to-appear-in-court-on-charges-related-to-stanley-cup-riot/feed/9stdScott Stinson: Will the Ontario government fall? Andrea Horwath punts key question over to the publicmiss-cong1Riots after game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Canucks and the Boston Bruins in Vancouver, B.C. Wednesday, June 15, 2011Vancouver riot leaves police photographers with red-eyehttp://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/09/vancouver-riot-leaves-police-photographers-with-red-eye/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/09/vancouver-riot-leaves-police-photographers-with-red-eye/#commentsFri, 09 Dec 2011 14:24:38 +0000http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/?p=60412

Vancouver’s police department, still working on the Stanley Cup riot that happened last June, is asking newspapers to hand over their photos of the disorder and destruction, because their own are so bad.

Of course, this has set off the usual tug-of-war with the media, which doesn’t want to surrender the images for fear it would make photographers targets of violence if they become viewed as unofficial agents of the police. The courts will decide that issue, but what’s really intriguing in this case is the admission by the VPD that they couldn’t even manage to take useable pictures of the riot, much less deal with the violence.

A handful of officers were dispatched to film the riot, but most of the material they collected is useless, the VPD acknowledged.

“There was one member of the PSU [public safety unit] that was provided with a video camera and filmed some of the events,” reads a VPD court exhibit. “The video is of very limited use as it does not cover all of the criminal acts that were committed and there was only one member recording video. The video is very shaky and as it went from daylight to darkness, the quality of the video decreased even further.”

Two members of the VPD’s forensic identification unit shot video from a downtown rooftop. Most of their footage “does not show facial features of people that could be used to positively identify suspects,” the same document reads.

Lord. Pretty much any kid with a cellphone can take a photo these days. And hundreds did. After an appeal to the public, “the VPD had received 5,000 tips, 1,600 hours of video and “tens of thousands of images” by the time it went to court seeking to compel media to turn over its material.” Not all of it was professional quality, but there are enough online to suggest many will be of great help in court.

Without piling on the VPD too much, could the force not train a couple of photographers to a skill level adequate to produce photos of its own? I’m willing to bet a force the size of Vancouver’s has quite a few amateur photographers on staff who wouldn’t have trouble focusing the camera, and ensuring it was pointed in the right direction. Yes, I know they were a bit busy that night, but collecting evidence is part of the job, and cameras aren’t all that expensive. Even in tough times, it must be within the budget of the VPD to buy a few, and provide some training.